I know it's not Halloween. But I needed some. This is an AU set before s2 where they've learned each other's identities.
"This is so totally not me," Marinette said into her mirror with a huge grin. She turned a little, admiring the many-layered black skirt and how the silver chain links around her waist glinted. Behind her, she saw Alya hold up her phone, totally at ease in virtually just a swimsuit.
"Alya! No pictures until the party!" Marinette scolded. Even still, she couldn't help but swing her arms around inside their giant, lacy sleeves.
Alya shrugged and continued taking pictures, a smile firmly on her face. "Hey, girl, if you're going to do this, you're gonna do it."
"What does that even mean?" Marinette stopped looking in the mirror and opened her sparkly black spiderweb purse.
"It means all in. No backing out." Alya put her phone down. Tapping noises coming from her direction told Marinette that she was typing something.
"I'm not going to back out - the party starts in fifteen minutes and I do not have enough time to take all this makeup off," Marinette responded. She glanced over to make sure Alya was fully involved in her phone and held her open purse under her desk. The small weight that settled inside assured Marinette that her friend Tikki was safely inside.
"Darn right you don't," Alya laughed, grabbing her own purse, shaped like two Ws with a metallic gold strap. "That eyeliner alone will take you hours. Why did you decide to use the cheap waterproof stuff?"
Marinette swung her bag over her shoulder, taking care not to jostle it too much. "Because I hoard fabric samples, not makeup. Unlike some people." She sent a playful glare at her friend, who replied by striking a model pose. They giggled.
"I thought that matching costumes would be great," Alya continued as they left Marinette's third-floor room and started down the stairs. "You know, me Wonder Woman, you Supergirl or something. You could totally pull it off. But I've got to agree - goth Marinette is so much better."
"Thanks," beamed Marinette. She winked at herself in the reflection of the window. There was a lot of eyeliner, and plenty of just-a-smidge-paler foundation. Plus black lipstick, of course. "It only took me two yards of mismatched lace and lots of thrift shopping."
"Which was totally worth it, because you found the greatest fabric for my bottoms!"
"I still don't know how you're comfortable in so little." Marinette shook her head in amusement.
Alya grinned. She was wearing a traditional Wonder Woman costume from the 60s, one of the designs that had been based off of lingerie. (Marinette would know - she'd done a lot of costume research.) Despite that, Alya managed to pull it off really well. Her early curves filled out the strapless leotard nicely, and anyway, all the little accessories were completely Alya's doing. Marinette could never have found that purse, or a tiara like that, or those fat metal bracelets.
"I'm a strong girl who don't need no man," Alya winked. She hopped down the last few steps.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Marinette retorted. She emerged from the stairwell with a bit more decorum than Alya. That might have been due to her platform boots, though. Heels she could do easily, platforms... she needed to focus more.
"Just because I've got one doesn't mean I need one. And this costume is for me, not Nino." Still, Marinette saw a tiny sly grin creep across Alya's face.
When the two girls left the warm bakery for the crisp fall night, Alya slipped her phone into her bag, still wearing that peculiar expression. "Don't worry, I'm sure Adrien will love your new look."
Like a switch had been flipped, Marinette's face went red. "It's not a new look! And I'm not doing it for him!"
"Sure you're not, girl," Alya chuckled, then went silent. A gentle nudge told Marinette that her friend was simply teasing, so she let it go and tried to change the subject in her mind. They walked towards the river together, reveling in the journey.
Marinette swung her arms happily, the big lace sleeves swirling around her. She took big steps to compensate for their slow speed, which meant that she pounded along the sidewalk in her giant boots. It kinda made her feel powerful, so unlike the frail, thin girl she actually was. Her skirt was black and lacy, too, almost princess-like. If princess costumes were black. Small chains, looped on the larger one that was acting as a belt, hung down and made clinky noises. Lots of her jewelry she'd found at either the thrift store or online. She didn't replace her earrings, preferring to keep the Ladybug option open, but she had lots of rings, an ear cuff, a few necklaces, and one big headpiece. She appreciated the irony of going "dark" when her whole persona was based on light and luck, but she didn't think anybody else would.
Before she knew it, they'd arrived at the courtyard for the Halloween party.
Adrien tugged nervously at his stiff white cuffs. He'd worn everything in his costume before as real clothing, most for modeling gigs, but never all at once. In his opinion, it was a bit too... white. Unfortunately, Nino hadn't really given him much of a choice.
"Dude, you look killer!" his friend said, hopping down from the DJ table to stand next to him. Nino himself had on some cheap skeleton bodysuit with... a Superman symbol taped on the chest?
"Remind me what I'm supposed to be," Adrien asked, and raised his eyebrow at the S. "And while you're at it, what are you?"
Nino shrugged, adjusting his ever-present ball cap. "Alya said she wanted us to match or something, but I'd already gotten the skeleton thing, so..." He puffed out his chest, making sure Adrien didn't miss the S printout. It fell off and fluttered to the ground. Black fibers stuck to the scotch tape roll on the back of it from the cheap bodysuit.
Adrien laughed at that. "Maybe a safety pin instead?"
"Yeah, maybe. I'll go see if somebody has one before the party starts," Nino replied with a red face. After picking the paper up, he trotted away inside the house, calling for a safety pin.
"What am I, though?" Adrien muttered to himself, glancing over his clothes. White dress shirt, white tie, white suit jacket, white pants. He'd gotten used to wearing weird things as a model, and remembered at least one ensemble that had been strikingly similar to this one, but that was before he'd become Chat Noir and embraced the shadows. Now Adrien felt like there was a spotlight on him in normal life. Not cool. Why did he even have to dress up for Halloween? Surely nobody else would be so uncomfortable tonight. As people started to arrive and gawk at the Halloween decorations, though, Adrien started to understand. Everybody looked a little nervous, wearing extravagant things that they weren't used to. Compared to them, Adrien actually looked... normal. The sheer variety of the costumes was fascinating, so Adrien leaned back against the black-cloaked DJ table, content to simply watch.
Little Rose made a perfect Tinkerbell, with her high voice and petite stature. Max had a cheap video game character costume that he was obviously proud of. Adrien didn't know what Juleka was supposed to be, but he did recognize the long ankh necklace. He was at a loss for how that went along with a black tank top and swirly eyeliner, though. Chloe had some huge, expensive-looking Disney princess gown on, though it looked like her friend (Sabrina? Adrien thought) hadn't gone along with a themed costume, like he knew Chloe would have wanted, and had on a Harry Potter robe instead. He silently applauded her for that.
Nino returned with four safety pins firmly securing his S, and slapped Adrien's shoulder before climbing back onto his table.
"And so begins our night of Halloween fun!" Nino said excitedly into his microphone. He turned the volume way up, and some vaguely spooky song with a good beat started playing. Adrien gave Nino a thumbs up and a big smile before retreating, lest his eardrums burst from the noise. From his suit's interior pocket, Adrien's friend Plagg whined at the noise. Adrien rolled his eyes and slipped a tiny piece of cheese into his jacket from his pants pocket. Plagg immediately quieted.
"Cool party, Adrien!" shouted somebody from behind him. Adrien spun to see the most professional-looking costumes he'd seen yet.
"Hey, Alya!" Adrien greeted, having to raise his voice quite a bit to be heard. "Where's your costume?"
Alya laughed. "I don't know! I seem to have misplaced it tonight! What about you? What're you supposed to be?"
"A ghost, I think?" Adrien answered, looking back down at his shiny white shoes. "Nino told me what to wear, though he didn't put nearly as much effort into his own costume."
"That boy is gonna make me die of shame," Alya yelled back after seeing what Nino was wearing. "Entertain Mari here while I go chew him out." She marched right over to the DJ table, though Adrien thought he saw a mischievous gleam in her eye.
Adrien's eyes shifted over to a pale pink face, smiling in the dim lighting. He took in the hat, lacy clothes, and huge, shiny boots before commenting. "That's a bit of a departure from normal," he said.
"I could say the same for you, ki-" Marinette cut off with a barely-contained laugh, looking vaguely embarrassed.
Adrien smiled. Only a few weeks ago, Ladybug and Chat Noir told each other their true identities. It had seemed prudent - they had to communicate with each other outside of patrols and fights, plus secrets were easier to keep when somebody had your back. Together, they'd made a pact to not let anybody else in on the secret. That meant using the right names in the right places, no inside jokes, and no being together more often than they had before. It was tough. Adrien often had to forcibly stop himself from making cat-related puns, especially around Marinette. He was getting better, though, and only confided them to Ladybug later when they were out of earshot of anybody else. They still slipped up occasionally, however.
"Yeah, white's not exactly my favorite right now. I feel like everybody's staring," Adrien said with a shrug and half-smile.
"On Halloween, everybody feels a little out of their comfort zone," Marinette said. She started to walk away, and he jogged to catch up. They continued the conversation, just moving farther away from the speakers to hear each other better. "Trying something new is part of the fun!"
With a playful groan, Adrien closed his eyes and tipped his head back. "You call this fun? I swear, if Nino hadn't been so insistent upon... whatever this is, I'd just have gotten a cheap Grim Reaper robe instead or something." They approached the refreshments table, whih was surprisingly abandoned. Some Halloween-themed treats were laid out on the plastic table, including a few from Marinette's family's bakery that Adrien recognized as just frosted differently and labeled something spooky.
"I'd never let you do that!" Marinette insisted, shaking her finger at him even as she reached for a plastic cup. "What would people think of Marinette the designer if one of her friends wore something off-the-shelf?"
Adrien glanced pointedly at Nino's bodysuit, which was still the object of Alya's righteous fury. Marinette followed his gaze and winced. He took the opportunity of her distraction to steal the empty cup from her hand and ladle punch into it for her. Say what you wanted about him - he still believed in chivalry.
"Besides Nino," Marinette allowed. She gave Adrien an annoyed look, though she didn't stop him from giving her cup, now full of sugary red punch, back to her. "I don't think he'd wear anything but that skeleton thing he's worn for the last two years."
"I thought you said Halloween was for trying something new," Adrien pointed out, getting himself a cupful of punch.
He'd interrupted her drinking. She was being very careful not to mess up her black lipstick - Adrien had seen enough socialites doing that much less subtly - but she still smiled at his comment.
"Not for Nino," she said when she finally swallowed. Her lipstick was still perfect.
"Despite being the Halloween party host, he seems to ignore a lot of the rules of Halloween."
Marinette giggled, and they stood in companionable silence for a song or two. It was nice, Adrien thought, to finally be comfortable around her. Well, and for her to be comfortable around him. After sharing their secrets and laughing over some of the situations they'd accidentally gotten themselves into, both of them had relaxed a little. What's more, their relationship had actually deepened. It was real, true friendship, with maybe an icing of something more.
The upbeat music faded away, replaced by something slow and sinister, appropriate for Halloween. A glance towards the front assured Adrien that yep, Nino and Alya were taking the lead and showing everybody that this song was a slow dance. A mischevious smile crept across his face and he put his nearly-empty drink down.
"Dance with me?" Adrien said to Marinette suddenly, holding out his hand. True to form, her face went immediately bright red, though the effect was spoiled slightly because of the thick makeup. Darn. Adrien thought her blushes were adorable.
Marinette visibly swallowed against a black velvet choker. "Y-yeah, dancing. I mean, sure." She took his hand and set down her own cup. "Though these boots might make it harder than normal and you know I'm horrible at this anyway."
"You're not horrible at anything," Adrien smiled, pulling her back out into the courtyard. She blushed harder and stumbled on her boots. By keeping his arm firm, Adrien was able to help her stay standing.
Ignoring "teenage tradition," Adrien assumed closed position with Marinette held close. She was rigid in his arms, which was sort of a good thing, since she followed his gentle nudges a lot more easily than if she was a noodle. This song had some weird foxtrot rhythm, but Adrien used a smooth waltz instead, thinking it would be easier and more fun. He was right - the first spin went well, so Adrien got a little fancier as the song went on.
Lots of quarter turns made Marinette's lace outfit flare out. Some dramatic spins nearly made her lose the rhythm, but Adrien was mostly able to get them back onto it. (Not that there was much to begin with.) Honestly, he was pretty proud of himself for leading so well, but that wasn't the reason he was smiling. Marinette's own smile was. She was clearly enjoying this, even if her blush was now probably permanent. After a bit, though, Adrien was content simply to hold them in basic, slowly rotating together. Perhaps he was holding Marinette a little closer than a waltz necessarily called for, but it's not like she would know that.
With one last spin, the song ended and something a little more bouncy turned on, expertly faded together by Nino. Adrien kept hold of Marinette's hand to take her back to the edge of the courtyard where they could hear one another. As they walked away, Adrien blushed himself as he heard Alya call out behind them.
"OTP for life!"
Marinette laughed when they reached the brick wall. "That was awesome! How did I do that?"
"You had a great leader, Princess," Adrien winked, some of his Chat personality bubbling through. He couldn't help it. Both Chat and Adrien were him, but it was so much easier to be a combination of the two around Marinette. That was more him than either of the two separated.
"Oh, please." Marinette shook her head, even as she snorted.
Adrien laughed back.
"Oh my gosh, you guys!" squealed Alya, coming closer with a glowing phone in her hand. "You make the perfect couple!" She showed them a few pictures of their dance. Adrien was used to having his picture taken, but Marinette obviously wasn't.
"We're not a couple!" Marinette protested, slipping her hand from Adrien's and crossing her arms. He saw her little smile, though.
Alya disagreed. "Come on, guys, you're totally into each other. Even I can see that. Plus, you're so matchy-matchy tonight! The messy black and clean cut white? Perfection!"
Adrien ran through that sentence in his head again. "Wait," he said suspiciously. "You put Nino up to this, didn't you?" He gestured to his jacket.
"Ma-aybe?" Alya drew the word out. "But you've got to admit it's amazing! Everybody wants you to get together and this is just further proof you should!"
"Everybody?" Marinette asked, raising an eyebrow. Adrien followed her glance to Chloe's fuming face. It did not match her blue princess dress at all. He hid a snicker. Chloe was his friend, for sure, but he wasn't blind to her overt longing for him. He was pretty sure she only wanted to be his girlfriend because they were of similar social standing. He didn't like her that way.
"Well, almost everybody," Alya amended. Just then, her phone buzzed and the screen lit up. As she checked it, it went off a few more times. "Woah, guys, check this out - some librarian just got akumatized! I've gotta get on the scene of the action!" With a wave at her friends, and a quick stop at her boyfriend, Alya ran out the gate, looking for all the world like a real Wonder Woman.
People were muttering now, and Nino turned down the music for a moment to announce that the party was still underway, though they'd tone it down until the threat was gone. "Don't wanna distract our heroes," he said with a wink. Nino turned the music down but kept it going.
Adrien instinctively reached for Marinette's hand. She didn't seem to notice, just squeezed his back.
"Well, I guess that's our cue," she said quietly.
"Time to go save Paris once again, mi - Marinette?" Adrien smiled.
Marinette lowered her voice to a whisper she likely knew only Adrien could hear. "Always, chaton."
Together, they slipped from the courtyard, and after Marinette made sure to give Plagg one of the miniature camembert walnut pastries she'd made especially for him, they transformed and leapt out into the night.
Well, that was cheesy. :) Not at all what I'd set out to write. But I had fun. What did you think of it?